Columnosphaeria Munk, Dansk bot. Ark. 15(no. 2): 103 (1953).
Index Fungorum number: IF 1193; MycoBank number: MB 1193; Facesoffungi number: FoF 00100; 4 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2020), 1 species with molecular data.
Type species – Columnosphaeria sarothamni Munk, Dansk bot. Ark. 15(no. 2): 103 (1953).
Notes – Columnosphaeria is characterized by unilocular, immersed to erumpent ascostromata and hyaline to brown, aseptate, ellipsoidal-fusiform ascospores. Barr (2001) included five species which had been previously referred to Guignardia and Physalospora and placed Columnosphaeria in Dothioraceae. Barr (2001) transfered Discosphaerina fagi to Columnosphaeria based on morphology. Phyllosticta is considered as the current name of Columnosphaeria (Index Fungorum 2020). However, C. sarothamni, the type of Columnosphaeria does not share morphological features with Phyllosticta (Thambugala et al. 2014a). Hormonema, Sarcophoma and Aureobasidium species have been reported as the asexual morphs in culture (Barr 2001) and these asexual morphs are usually reported in Dothideales. Thambugala et al. (2014a) examined the type material of Columnosphaeria (C. sarothamni) and C. fagi, which grouped in Saccotheciaceae in their phylogenetic analysis which is similar to the present analysis. Based on the asexual morphs of Columnosphaeria species and the similarity between C. sarothamni and C. fagi, Thambugala et al. (2014a) accepted Columnosphaeria in Saccotheciaceae, Dothideales, although the type has morphological characters like Botryosphaeriaceae. Based on all these facts we also tentatively accept Columnosphaeria in Saccotheciaceae until fresh collections of C. sarothamni with DNA molecular data resolve the placement.